An Ending
by AugustusFeuer
Summary: Realizing that all you did was in vain, you lie down in front of the barrier, staring emptily ahead... And then your phone rings. (Oneshot. Spoilers for the Neutral Pacifist ending. Crossposted on AO3 under the same title and username.)


**Disclaimer: Undertale and its characters belong to Toby Fox. No copyright infringement intended, I'm just playing in his sandbox.**

 **Enjoy my first fanfiction since 2015! :'D**

* * *

It's over.

It's over.

 _It's over!_

You repeat that sentence to yourself, again and again and again as you limp away from Flowey's remains. It's over, you choke out, your grip on the worn dagger loosening, it's finally over.

You have no idea how to escape the Underground now, what with his destroying Asgore and the six humans' SOULs, but this place - which somehow turns out to be the hall leading to the barrier - is empty, which means there's no one to attack you. No more fighting, no more talking, no more. Just you, the strange voice in your head, and- _oh god. Oh no. Oh nonononono._

Against all odds, Flowey's still alive.

Even from this distance, he looks haggard (at this point, you no longer have the energy to question your inexplicably enriched vocabulary), a mere shadow of its former nightmarish self - no, it's even worse. Or is it better? This... this monster, who's done nothing but stalk you and taunt you and steal the Underground's hope, looks so damn close to dying. Your grip on the dagger tightens once more as you approach him, your steps resolute despite the bone jutting out of your right kneecap.

When you arrive before him, he cowers. The presence in your mind simmers with rage, causing your head to hurt, but... seeing him so weak, so much like yourself when you started back in the Ruins, tugs on your heartstrings.

"I don't want to fight you," you tell him.

He laughs mirthlessly. "Do you think I'm going to learn anything from this?"

"But even you deserve forgiveness," you plead, your head's pounding so hard, god, you're too tired to fight...

"If you spare me, I'll come back," he threatens, his gaze boring into yours, "And I'll kill you."

You shrug. "I'm used to it."

"I'll kill everyone."

For the first time, the voice in your head is screaming, _kill him kill him KILL HIM_ and your left hand, the hand with the dagger, starts shaking...

"I'll kill everyone you love!"

You might've gone through your journey without taking a single SOUL, but you can't exactly say you love any of them. Not even Toriel - you practically just met her! But then again...

I _love them,_ the presence snaps, _kill him, Frisk. Now. You_ cannot _let him hurt them._

 _Yeah, I can't,_ you agree. You do want to love them, and it's hard to love a pile of dust...

So you swing your dagger with all your might.

The presence beams.

Yet the flower still has enough energy to face you, your attack doing nothing to erase his grotesque smile.

"I knew you had it in you!" he sneers, _oh my god how dare he they want to stab him and_ you _want to stab him-_

But Flowey's face vanishes right away.

Hesitantly, remembering all the tricks he pulled on you, you touch him with the tip of your dagger.

 _It's just an ordinary flower,_ they note.

You sigh in relief and put your dagger back inside your dimensional box.

 _Let's go back to Toriel,_ they suggest, not-so-subtly nudging you in the direction of the throne room.

 _Later,_ you reply, brushing past Flowey, _I want to see the barrier for the last time._

They roll their 'eyes'. _You are such a masochist. Except when you fight. You always choose the easy way out._ ("Self-defense?" they'd mutter every time you weaken your opponent to submission, which is... almost every FIGHT, "You could have killed them!")

With a chuckle (no matter how many times they insist, your method is not the easy way out!), you return to the gate. Twilight shines through the small opening on the bright light of the barrier - _did I seriously walk all the way here in one day?_

They raise a mental eyebrow, clearly skeptical. Something like annoyance bubbles on your chest. But another emotion threatens to overtake you and your determination. As the full moon rises above Ebott, you feel the sensation of adrenaline in your veins fading away...

Realizing that all you did was in vain, you lie down in front of the barrier, staring emptily ahead.

 _Wait... what are you doing? We should go back!_

You shake your head. You're too tired. Everything hurts.

 _No, no, stay determined! Toriel will help you!_

You move into a sitting position, leaning on the 'corner' of the barrier, and your gaze shifts back to the night sky you'll never see again. _Will she, though?_

She promised to protect you, but your last memory of her involves burning to death. _They_ were the one who spared her, wrestling control from you at the last moment... you're about to point that out when your phone rings.

 _It must be Toriel!_ They cry. _Tell her you need help, she will definitely come!_

Judging from the unfamiliar number, you don't think so, but you pick it up anyway. "Hello?"

"Heya." It's Sans. Oh god. "Is anyone there?"

You try to croak out a 'yes', but nothing comes out.

"Well." He clears his throat. "Just calling to say... you made a snowman really happy."

You can't help but take a look inside your pocket. Despite everything, the snowman piece is still solid. _Sorry I can't take it that far,_ you wish you could say.

"Guess I should say something else, too," the skeleton sighs. "So... it's been a while." He paused. "The Queen returned, and is now ruling over the Underground. She's enstated a new policy... all the humans who fall here will be treated not as enemies, but as friends. It's probably for the best, anyway."

You can't and don't know how to respond, so you keep listening.

"The human souls the king gathered... seem to have disappeared. So, uh, that plan ain't happening any time soon." _Thanks to Flowey,_ you grumble inwardly _._

"But even though people are heartbroken over the king... and things are looking grim for our freedom... the queen's trying her best not to let us give up hope."

 _That's good. And that also means I didn't finish this trip in one day. Just how long did my fight with Flowey lasted?_

"So, uh, hey... if we're not giving up down here... don't give up wherever you are, okay?"

You feel the voice in your head nodding vigorously. _Stay determined,_ they say. Even when they know you can't really talk anymore, they beg you to hold on, to focus on the call instead of your bleeding wounds and tired muscles. _Stay determined._

"Who knows how long it will take," Sans continues, his voice missing his signature note of despair for once, "but we will get out of here. That's a promise."

 _But not before they find my dead body on the exit,_ you think. You've never been this morbid, but you don't care. You're so tired _..._

 _Don't think like that,_ they reprimand you. _You are not going to let yourself die. Eat that snowman piece!_ _Tell Sans to pick you up!_

You sigh. Maybe you'll get to go back to the surface with the monsters if you live long enough, or if you die before that, at least eating will shut them up. Afraid it would crumble in your hands, you carefully take the snow out of your pocket. You just notice it's much bigger than any monster food you've ever eaten.

 _Heals 45 HP,_ they comment, forcing your gaze on the snowball-of-sorts. _Wow._

As soon as they release their control over your body, you open your mouth to take a bite... but an ear-shattering voice causes you to throw it in surprise.

"Sans!" Papyrus yells, eliciting a fond laugh from your brain buddy and grumbling from you as you scoop up the fallen pieces of snow from the ground, "Who are you talking to?"

"Oh, nobody," Sans replies. You can almost see him shrug.

"What?! Nobody?!" The younger brother cries, excited, "Can I talk to them too?"

Since they've been telling you not to die, you decide to slide your phone across the room, ignoring their protests. _I don't want my ears to bleed too, okay?_

 _Fine,_ they huff, sending the mental sensation of a pout.

"Here, knock yourself out," Sans says.

"Wait a second... I recognize this number!"

 _Of course he does,_ you giggle. _I can't believe Papyrus got my number by pressing everything sequentially- hack! Cough!_

 _How could you not remember you have broken ribs? Eat,_ they order, _or I will make you._

You don't need to be told twice. You focus so hard on eating - _oh god this tastes like heaven_ , you can feel everything healing and it's so warm somehow, so _good_ \- that you've unconsciously tuned out the conversation. When you're finally finished, you have no idea what Papyrus is talking about. But (with a little test) you know you can talk now... so you crawl across the room and take the phone back.

"...get us out of here. Undyne is helping her, too!"

 _Her?_ you wonder.

 _Probably Alphys,_ they answer, _As the Royal Scientist, she would definitely be the one searching for a way back to the surface._

"Though, to be honest..." Papyrus' voice goes quiet for once. "Her method of helping seems kind of... explosion-inducing. But I think Alphys likes having her around... uh oh!"

 _And that must be Undyne,_ they snicker. They really like the fish lady for some reason, even taking control of your body on that 'date'.

"Hey!" Yep, they're right. "What are you up to, punk!"

 _Are you still hurt?_

You shake your head.

 _Answer her._

"I... I'm doing okay," you reply, "I'm still at the barrier, though," you add hastily, earning you a gasp from your caller.

"What do you mean, 'you're still at the barrier?!" Undyne demands. You hear Sans and Papyrus mumbling and screaming respectively, and there's... Toriel...

 _Help,_ you call them.

 _Tell the truth,_ the voice in your head suggests, _What other explanation is there?_

"Um... I... I didn't take Asgore's SOUL," you tell Undyne. The other side of the phone starts buzzing with disbelief. "I didn't even kill him." You wait for the noise to die down before continuing. "But after I spared him... Flowey came. He... he was the one who killed Asgore!" Your voice thickens. "And then he absorbed the six human SOULs and-" You can't take it anymore, you don't want to be reminded of how helpless you were in that fight, how he loaded his SAVE file again and again and again and you feel yourself being teleported from corner to corner, your body burning and bleeding from bombs and vines and pellets and-

"My child," Toriel says, gentle as ever. You find that it soothes the presence in your head more than it does you, but you welcome the warmth anyway. Tears spring into your eyes. "M-mom?" It's not you who's speaking. "I- I'm so sorry..."

 _For what?_ you ask.

They don't answer; instead, they give the control back to you. You blink in surprise, but don't question them.

"There is no need to apologize, my child," Toriel continues, "what happened was not your fault."

You fight the urge - _their_ urge - to cry, to no avail. So you start sobbing like a little kid, wetting your face and your phone with tears and snot, it's disgusting, but they don't care and you don't care either because everything's crashing down on you again and no matter how much you deny it, you're still just a kid, and kids shouldn't be stuck in this predicament...

"There, there," Toriel says, "I will pick you up. Please remain there, my child."

 _Click..._

* * *

 **Man, I love this game so much. But I've always wondered how Frisk left the Underground in neutral endings - I mean, the six humans' AND Asgore's souls all disappeared. And just imagine if that phone call didn't go to voicemail!**

 **In case you're wondering, yes, this is a different interpretation of the two. In this fic, Frisk only cares about going back home, not so much about befriending everyone (but they can't bring themselves to kill, either, thus their Technical Pacifist route). Chara, at their core (despite their hatred of humanity and their other... less savory traits), loves monsters, so here you go.**

 **I'm not too sure about the ending, so maybe I'll continue this? I think it has quite a bit of potential, like, how will everyone deal with the loss of the six souls? Will Papyrus forgive Frisk for killing Flowey? Et cetera, et cetera... But don't bet on it. I'm a lazybone. Just ask my Star Wars fics :')**

 **Anyway, thank you for reading, and feel free to drop me a line! :)**


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